Innisfail BJJ athlete Brodie Mayocchi wins triple gold in Brisbane

MARIA GIRGENTI

MMA athlete Brodie Mayocchi from Fusion Fight and Fitness Innisfail had a cracking start to the year, winning triple gold in the adult purple belt division at Queensland Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Circuit (QBJJC) Brisbane Championship, held at Somerville House, South Brisbane on February 5.

After a little break from the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu circuit Hyperfly athlete Mayocchi, aged 17, from Innisfail, went undefeated and took out gold in three divisions.

In the final of the Male Gi -88.3.kg (Medium Heavy) division, Mayocchi claimed gold with a win over Steven Girgis from Brisbane.

Mayocchi then won gold in the final against James Davies in the Male No Gi -79.5kg (Middle) division.

He proved too strong for Pedro Queiroz from

Burleigh Heads in the semi-final of the Purple Belt Male Gi Absolute Open Weight division.

A win over Brisbane’s Sunny Matheson in the Purple Belt Male Absolute Gi Open Weight division final saw Mayocchi claim another gold medal.

The Brisbane Championship attracted over 500 registrations, which included athletes from Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Gold Coast, Noosa, Ipswich, Sunshine Coast, Surfers Paradise, Hervey Bay, Beaudesert, New South Wales, Victoria and Darwin.

Last Sunday, February 19, Fusion Fight and Fitness Innisfail had a massive team who competed in the QBJJC Townsville Open at Townsville Sports Precinct, North Ward.

UNFORTUNATELY, the weather conditions were not ideal for most forms of fishing over last weekend. The huge tidal run and flooding made the estuaries in the coastal creeks unfishable.

The only chance you had was to get up into the upper tidal influence. Still, unfortunately, the flooding was too extensive, so most anglers decided to stay home or try another alternative.

The central heart area of the Hinchinbrook channel did offer some opportunities, especially around the mouth of the mud drains during the last 2 hours leading up to the bottom of the tide.

The Barra and Mangrove Jacks lay in wait both in the mouth of the drain and in the deeper water where the drain drops off. The main advantage of the heart of the channel (around the Benjamin Flats) is that there are extensive drains, and the water quality is usually a lot better.

The good news is that these extremely high tides, coupled with the flooding, will allow the fish to travel out of the waterholes and lagoons down to the ocean to enable them to breed. Alternatively, the fry (small baitfish and juvenile Barra) can also travel back up into these same wetlands to grow and mature more quickly.

Those anglers lucky enough to have access to fish in the flooded creeks and drains did catch some nice Barra, mostly smaller undersize fish; however, the larger mature fish do regularly turn up and surprise a lucky angler. Weedless soft plastics are definitely the better performer to use in these conditions. Prawn patterns and paddle tails, such as the new cast range, are ideal.

Looking forward to this coming weekend, we are still likely to have swollen rivers. The good news is that the tiny run in the tide will give the estuaries some chance of clearing. We should also see some prawns and mud crabs on the sheltered beaches and mud flats.

If the water conditions allow, these tides are ideal for fishing for Fingermark in the Hinchinbrook Channel, and there should be a few Barra and Mangrove Jacks n the creeks running into the channel. I would try the northern and central parts of the Hinchinbrook Channel. The water quality should be better there as you are getting away from the influence of the Herbert.

It is always possible to find sheltered bays along the island flats and look for signs of bait fish, especially around water colour changes.

As stated earlier, there is very little run in the tides this weekend, and the forecast is for 15 to 20 knots of south easterlies. If casting lures for Barra, Jacks and Flathead, I prefer the early morning run-out tide. If I were bait fishing, especially for Fingermark, I would plan my trip to fish on either side of the evening low tide change as there is more run in the tide during the afternoon and evening tides.

Be extremely careful when on the water as there are lots of logs and debris at the moment. I also expect box jelly numbers to be up due to the recent rain.

Good Fishing

Roly Newton Tackle World Tully